When you speak of classic youkai, things like tengu and kappa come to mind, right? In the past, you would be sure to find them in every mountain or marsh.

Marisa

今もいっぱい居るがな。

They're still all over the place, you know.

Kanako

幻想郷にはね。もっとも、昔の天狗や河童と大分違うものになってしまっているけど。

In Gensokyo, anyway. But they are quite different from the tengu and kappa of the past.

Miko

ビックリしました。まさか天狗が高度な社会を築いていたり、河童が高度な文明を持っていたり……。同じ名前の妖怪だけど、全く別物みたい。

That was a surprise to me. To think the tengu built an advanced society, or that the kappa would have such an advanced civilization... They seem like completely different youkai despite having the same name.

Byakuren

そうですねぇ。天狗は、昔は道を誤った修行僧のなれの果てだ、と言い伝えられていましたが。

I believe that's true. In the past, it was said that tengu were monks who had lost their way.

Miko

じゃあ、貴方も天狗になるのかしら？

So that means you're a tengu, too?

Byakuren

私は道を誤ってません。むしろ貴方の方が天狗に近い存在だと思います。

I haven't lost my way. Rather, I believe you are the one closer to a tengu than I.

Miko

ほう？

Really now?

［天狗の今と昔］

The Past and Present of the Tengu

Byakuren

天狗は山に住むとされ、色々な怪異を起こしたりします。最初は人間に被害を与えるだけの存在だったのでしょう。

Tengu live in mountains and cause various strange occurrences. At first, they were beings that only did harm to humans.

Miko

石を降らせたり、赤子を攫ったり、不気味な音で脅かしたり……。

Like dropping rocks on them, stealing their babies, frightening them with eerie noises...

But once Buddhism spread throughout the country and Shugendou started, tengu became objects of mountain worship. They were like spirits that both helped and hindered the mountain-dwelling Yamabushi who were training there. From the ordinary person's perspective, the Yamabushi(*1) undergoing intense training were no different from the tengu, and gradually they came to be considered one and the same. Because of that, today's tengu still have a Yamabushi-like appearance.

Marisa

詳しいな。

You sure know a lot about this.

Byakuren

妖怪学に関しては専門ですから。優れた修験者は仙人と呼ばれる事もありましたから、もちろん仙人化した天狗もいたかと思います。

Because I specialize in knowledge of youkai. Since the great mountain ascetics were sometimes called hermits, I believe that there were also tengu who have become hermits.

Marisa

確かに、今の天狗にも仙人っぽい奴も居るみたいだな。

Yeah, there definitely seem to be some hermit-like tengu out there, too.

Incidentally, the common image of long-nosed tengu seems to have been established around the time of the Edo Period (1603–1868). I believe the image comes from the masks that the monks would wear while training and performing rituals.

Miko

鼻の高い天狗って幻想郷にも居るのかしら？ なんか鴉天狗ばっかり見るわ。

Does Gensokyo have any long-nosed tengu too? It feels like I only see crow tengu.

The crow tengu are the newspaper reporters and deliverers, so they're the only ones who come down to the foothills, but there are actually lots of other tengu deep in the mountains. The long-nosed tengu are clerks, so it seems they don't get out much.

I've heard that their recent jobs have entailed making maps. They've been talking about their vision of eventually creating a guidance system where they don't even have to go outside. They call it GPS(*4) or something.

Miko

横着な猿田彦だこと（笑）。

What lazy Sarutahiko (laugh).

Byakuren

まあ、猿田彦本人じゃなくて、あくまで天狗が猿田彦と同一視されて真似しているだけですからそんな物かも知れませんね。

Well, they aren't Sarutahiko themselves, perhaps they are just regarded the same since they are imitating him.

Kanako

本物の猿田彦に謝れと。

They should apologize to the real Sarutahiko.

Marisa

で、天狗は色んなイメージを植え付けられたから今みたいな姿になったという訳か？

So the tengu ended up with the appearance they have now because of all those images of them?

Byakuren

そう……いや、江戸時代まではそうでした。しかし今は、色んなイメージの集合体、とはちょっと違うかも知れませんね。

Yes... Wait, no, they were until the Edo Period. However, I would say they are a bit different now.

The tengu of the past used to help out the mountain monks with their training, and would sometimes also take a leadership role during festivals. But then, because of the Westernization of Japan, folklore became superstition, shugendou gave way to secularism, and they were forgotten about along with humanity's fear of the dark. The tengu who were working together with humans starting appearing less and less. For this reason, the existence of these youkai was endangered. And not just tengu, but all youkai...

Miko

その危機を救う為に、幻想郷は隔離された世界になった、という訳ね。

And in order to deal with that crisis, Gensokyo became an isolated world.

That's right. I wasn't here at the time so I don't know how this came about(*5), but when Gensokyo entered its current state, youkai were liberated from the spell of human imagination and obtained true freedom. Since they originally lacked a stable form, they started to develop their own characteristics. I do not fully understand the kind of changes they have made, but because the tengu were youkai that had followed strict hierarchical rules, they were able to build the kind of society they have now.

Marisa

なる程なぁ。つまり纏めると、昔の妖怪は人間の想像に影響されて姿を変え、今の妖怪は独自に変化した、という事か？

I get it. To put it all together, the forms of youkai in the old days had been influenced by human imagination, and youkai nowadays can change on their own. Does that sound right?

Byakuren

そうだと思います。だから今の妖怪は多様性があるのです。

I believe so. That is why there is so much variety among youkai presently.

［生まれては消える妖怪］

Youkai Disappearing After Birth

Miko

うーん、ちょっと待って。私が考えるに、今の妖怪はそれだけでは無いと思いますよ。

Hmm, wait a moment. By my reasoning, I don't think all current youkai are like that.

The human imagination should still be creating new youkai. Considering the nature of youkai, they come about to rationalize irrationality... In other words, it is natural that some youkai who were meant to be fictitious exist.

Byakuren

なる程。存在しない事が明白な存在、としての妖怪……ね？

I see. As a youkai whose nonexistence is obvious, right?

Kanako

神子さんは流石に人間の心理に詳しいわね。当然そういう妖怪もいます。例えば「妖怪リモコン隠し」とか。

I must say Ms. Toyosatomimi has a solid grasp of human psychology. Of course, there are those sorts of youkai as well, such as the "remote-control-hiding youkai", for example.

Marisa

妖怪リモコン隠し？

What kinda youkai is that?

Kanako

よく使うのに、何故かすぐにどこに行ったか判らなくなってしまう現象を、妖怪の仕業にしたタイプです。

A type that was made to blame the phenomenon of some object going missing even though that object is used often, on the doings of a youkai.

Everyone

リモコンって何？

What's a remote control?

Kanako

あ、いや。まあ、ちっさな道具（＊６）です。もっとわかりやすい例としては、例えば睡魔の様な妖怪もいますね。

Ah, um, well, it is a small device(*6). Maybe an example that would be easier to understand is a youkai that causes drowsiness.

Byakuren

寝てはいけない時ほど眠くなるという、あれですね？

Do you mean the one that causes "the more inappropriate it is to fall asleep, the sleepier you become"?

Kanako

そう、この手の妖怪は毎日のように外の世界で生み出されています。その都度、幻想郷でも生まれたりしています。

Yes, youkai like that are created in the outside world every single day. And every time that happens, it also appears in Gensokyo.

But since the details are not sufficiently defined to the point where it can maintain a sense of self, it immediately disappears. That's what makes it different from the classical youkai who can develop their own characteristics after they are forgotten.

That's because they're all youkai of childish pranks(*7) (laugh). Even the famous ones, like the youkai of "making dropped toast land butter-side down", or the youkai of "always hiding missing things in places hardest to find them", or the youkai of "always killing whoever mentions that they are getting married after the war".

Long ago, whenever a troublesome or mysterious event happened, it was made to be the fault of some existing youkai. Through repetition of this practice, youkai matured and changed. Looking at the youkai currently in Gensokyo, most of them are basically like that.

Kanako

その中でも貴方のお寺にいる妖怪達はまだ古典的な妖怪の部類よね？

And the ones living at your temple still fall under this category of classic youkai, don't they?

I guess so. There's a self-conscious umbrella tsukumogami(*8), a shore-bound ship phantom(*9), a yamabiko who is proud of her loud voice(*10), and then, um... a controller of a giant nyuudou(*11)... and then...

Miko

うーん。

Hmm.

Kanako

ま、結構古典的な妖怪の方じゃないかしら？

Well, I suppose most of those would be considered classic youkai.

Byakuren

よかった。

Thank goodness.

Marisa

何が？

For what?

Byakuren

古典的ならばみんな消えなくて済むでしょう？

If they are classic, they won't end up disappearing, correct?

Marisa

そうか、みんなが忘れれば存在を消す事が出来るだったっけ？ ふむふむ。今日から茗荷料理（＊１２）でも振舞うとするか。

Ah, that's it. We can make them disappear if everybody forgets about them, right? Mm-hmm... I should serve up some dishes with Japanese ginger(*12) from now on.

Byakuren

だから、幻想郷に居る限り古典的な妖怪は簡単には消えないと……。

As we have said, as long as they live in Gensokyo, classic youkai will not disappear that easily...

Marisa

チッ。

Tsk.

Kanako

そう言えば山彦なんですけど、最近変な物に凝っていないかしら？

Speaking of that yamabiko, hasn't she been caught up in something unusual lately?

Until a short while ago she had been chanting sutras in that loud voice of hers, which was pretty annoying on its own, but during recent nights I have been able to hear strange crying of something that certainly are not sutras.

Byakuren

不思議な奇声……あの子はおうむ返しするだけが能なんですが。誰かの奇声を真似してるのかしら？

Strange crying... She only has the talent to repeat things like a parrot. Maybe she's just imitating someone else's?

Kanako

何でしょう……聞くに堪えない断末魔の様な声が。

Perhaps... But that noise was unbearable, like the cry of someone dying in agony.

Marisa

ああ、響子の話か。あいつ、最近たちの悪い妖怪と連んで夜な夜な何かして居るみたいだぜ。妖怪パンクライブ（＊１３）とか言っていたな。

Oh, you're talking about Kyouko. Lately she's been hanging out with another bad youkai and they've been up to something every night. Something about a Youkai Punk Concert(*13).

Well, since they're still in training, try to be a bit forgiving... Next is "Discipline", which means no killing, no stealing, no adultery, no lying, and no drinking. They vow to uphold these precepts.

Marisa

だから殺す気で攻撃されたけどな。この前。

Like I said, they were trying to kill me when I went a while back though.

Byakuren

……「忍辱」は他から与えられる屈辱や苦痛に耐える事。「精進」は修行を続ける努力をする事。

..."Forbearance" is to withstand humiliation or pain from others. "Diligence" is to exert the effort needed to continue training.

Marisa

そんなもん、みんなやっているぜ、仕方が無くだが。

Everyone does that, though not like we have a choice.

Byakuren

「禅定」は心を安定させ、迷いを断つ事。「智恵」は真理を見極める事です。

"Meditation" is maintaining a tranquil mind and removing distractions. "Wisdom" is having the insight to see through to the true nature of the world.

Kanako

最後の二つはえらく抽象的ね。

Those last two are quite abstract.

Byakuren

でも、皆が思い浮かべる修行っていうと、坐禅や滝行ばかりだと思いますが、それら判りやすい修行の殆どが、最後の二つになります。

But when everyone imagines ascetic training, they always imagine people meditating while cross-legged or sitting under waterfalls. Those last two kinds of training are the easiest to imagine.

Marisa

あいつ等、そんな修行を行っているようには見えんがな。みんな宴会でよく見るような気もするぜ。獣肉で酒飲んでいる姿が記憶にあるし……。

I don't see any of your people doing stuff like that. I get the feeling they show up at a lot of parties. I also remember seeing them eating meat and drinking...

Byakuren

……頭の片隅に止めておきましょう。

...Let's just never mind that.

Miko

そうねぇ、私も宴会している入道を見たわ。他にも頭蓋骨を使って傘回しして稼いでいる傘のお化けとか。

Hmm, I think I've also seen a nyuudou at a few parties. As for the others, I saw an umbrella monster making money by spinning a skull on her umbrella.

Kanako

三途の川の渡し船に水を入れている舟幽霊とか。

And a ship phantom filling the Sanzu River ferry with water.

Byakuren

え？ 私の知らないところで一体何を……？

Huh? What exactly have they been doing when I'm not looking...?

Marisa

やっぱり、妖怪は妖怪だな。

Hey, youkai are youkai, after all.

［入門を拒否される妖怪］

Youkai Who Are Denied Entry

Miko

ねぇねぇ、さっきお寺に入門してる妖怪は人様に迷惑掛けちゃいけないって言ってたけど、それって妖怪によっては没個性に成りかねないんじゃない？

Hey, earlier you said that the youkai who joined the temple shouldn't bother people, but wouldn't that harm the individuality of certain youkai?

Byakuren

そうかしら？

Would it?

Miko

だって、殆どの妖怪が人間の敵として生まれたんだから、迷惑を掛けないようにすると何も残らなくなるんじゃない。

I mean, since most youkai are born as the enemies of humans, if they stopped bothering people, wouldn't there be nothing else left?

Nowadays, most of the youkai who live underground want to live there. They have taken over the abandoned Former Hell and enjoy living in a lawless district, unlike how we have rules here on the surface. It is exactly the sort of world where might makes right, so they could not come to an understanding with the youkai at the temple that have some sense of rules.

Marisa

力が正義……確かにそんな感じだったなぁ。地底は大変だった。

Might makes right... Yeah, it definitely felt like that. I had a really hard time underground.

Yamame, the earth spider I just mentioned, said her reason for joining was that "because the humans that come to the temple with their worries look delicious(*15)," and Orin said "because the temple has so many graves that it's corpse heaven." I had no choice but to refuse them, right? (laugh)

Miko

ですねぇ（笑）。

Right. (laugh)

＊１ 修験道の修行者。ふっさふっさの毛玉を首から提げ、法螺貝を吹いて演奏する山岳音楽団の一員。

1: An ascetic of Shugendo. They are members of the mountain music band who hang balls of fluff from their neck and play conch horns.

＊２ 日本神話に出てくる神様。背が高く、鼻も高いと評判なところからイケメンかと思われるが、目が赤く輝いているのが玉に瑕。

2: A god who appears in Japanese mythology. He is thought to be handsome since he is well-known for being tall and having a long nose, but the fly in the ointment is that his eyes have a red glint to them.

＊３ 道を通じて悪神や病気などが入ってくるのを防ぐ神様。殆どの人間にお地蔵さんと区別が付けて貰えず、アイデンティティの崩壊に悩む。

3: A god that prevents evil gods and illness from traveling via roads. He suffers from an identity disorder, because most humans can't distinguish him from a jizou statue.

5: The creation of Gensokyo was rather recent, in what the outside world would call the Meiji Era (1868-1912). Meaning a lot of youkai in Gensokyo would have been living from that period, but obviously there are no humans who can remember it.

＊６ リモコンとは下駄の事らしいです。余り無くさない気もしますが。

6: I heard that a remote control is like a geta.[5] I doubt that anybody would lose a such thing, though.

↑The "Six Perfections" (六波羅蜜, "rokuharamitsu" or "ropparamitsu") are the six virtues in Mahayana that a Buddhist must practice in order to reach Nirvana.

↑One of the three traditional "Generosity" (布施,fuse, Sanskrit:दानdāna) according to the Commentary on the Great Wisdom Sutra (大智度論,Daichidoron) In the Great Encyclopedia of Buddhism Words (広説佛教語大辞典) by Hajime Nakamura, it says "to provide fearlessness (無畏,mui) to people, save people from disasters, give the state of fearless and prevent from all sentient beings to have an emotion of fear".

↑In the original Japanese, they use the word gottsui (ごっつい, lit. "thick" or "hard"), as they have no real sense of "global" here.

↑A geta (下駄) is a kind of traditional Japanese footwear. The relation between remote controls and geta comes from rimokon geta (リモコン下駄, lit. "remote-controlled geta") used by Kitarou in Ge-ge-ge no Kitarou (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎).

↑There is a superstition in Japan that when you eat the Japanese ginger, your memory worsens. It comes from the old tale of Gautama Buddha.